Fast food with food stamps? Come on . . .
Kucmel007 | Wikimedia Commons | Altered by Dan
Awhile back when I wrote a column decrying that soda, potato chips and other junk food can be purchased with food stamps. Certain critics called me an insensitive clod who didn’t understand hunger in America or something like that.
In the meantime, the number of American families on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has swelled. And so has the number of business that accept SNAP cards (the modern, electronic equivalent of food stamps).
And things with that program seem definitely headed in the wrong direction.
Earlier this summer, the U.S. Department of Agriculture torpedoed New York City’s attempt to prevent food stampers from buying Coke and Pepsi on the taxpayers’ tab.
Now restaurants are getting into the food stamp provider act. Yumi Foods, which owns KFC, Long John Silvers, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, is angling to serve food-stamp recipients.
Where will this end?
Keep in mind, I’m not against food stamps — I’m for them. I’m pro-nutrition for needy Americans. But it’s ridiculous that you can buy non-nutritious foods with them. And it’s even more ridiculous for taxpayers to be subsidizing Taco Bell and Colonel Sanders. It’s like subsidizing heart disease and diabetes. Next you’ll be able to use SNAP to buy cigarettes, a plant-based product.
Turn it around. LIMIT the foods you can by with SNAP cards. The Women, Infants & Children program already does this successfully. Why can’t the SNAP program do the same?
More on this from USAToday.
September 7, 2011 - 8:00 AM
see how gubmint programs work..you can buy greasy fast food chikin that I’ll bet doesnt have much of a food value…wheres ma check..obama gonna pay my mortgage, my gas…etc..he is paying for it all..lazies have to do nothing but collect. sad sad gubmint.
I’m with you on this one, Dan.
The president is expected to propose at least $300B in federal spending and tax cuts in his jobs speech before Congress, but the price tag could go higher with additional ideas yet to be unveiled.
this guy does NOT get it at all…loser. what could he possibly say, do, that he hasnt done in the past 2 1/2 years…cannot wait until this man is back in chicago with his thug buddies.
I’ve lived on a tight budget (without food stamps) and I don’t understand why FROZEN vegetables seem to be getting short shrift in the discussion. They are much, much cheaper than fresh, nutritionally the same, and will easily last a year without going bad. Dry beans, brown rice and frozen veggies supplemented by fresh fruit, in season when it is really cheap, sustained me for a year. A slow cooker takes away the “I don’t have time to cook that” argument and they can be picked up cheaply at thrift stores. That and picking fruit from the multitude of apple and pear trees that seem to grow wild around here in vacant lots and in public parks. I agree with you, Dan, people can suddenly find themselves in a bad situation and need help buying nutritious food. They should be able to occasionally buy food treats like the rest of us. But the bulk of the food stamp dollars need to be going to nutritious food. And I don’t understand why food stamp dollars are all spent at once. Do they disappear at the middle of the month? (I really don’t know!)
I was in 7-11 the other day and heard a couple going on and on about buying some nachos with their food stamps. Made me sick…. then, I got over it and made myself some nachos. YUM!
Agree 100%. Several area farmer’s markets recently began taking food stamps. That’s the right direction. People in need deserve real food, not junk.
If only we could get the junk food out of school cafeterias too.
correct dan, pro-nutrition…not gonna find it at kfc for sure…they should be able to spend these food stamps on all fresh fruits, vegetables, bread, dairy. But I suppose a lot of them are too stupid to read up on nutrition as long as its free garbage food.
Not only do I agree, I think the foods eligible should be extremely restrictive; milk, beans, bread, meat. That’s about it. Make it nutritious and sufficient but not exciting.
Tubby Michele 0bama just wasted $5 billion more taxpayer dollars on her “nutrition” kick. It could have been done for free. Just eliminate a bunch of foods food stamps can buy. But there’s a fine line here. Don’t want to enrage your constituents, the overweight poor. And why pass up a chance to make government bigger?
The markets offering tokens for EBT users is a great step, but I have to assume the fast food lobby is strong enough to block any efforts to control what food stamps can be spent on.
“And I don’t understand why food stamp dollars are all spent at once. Do they disappear at the middle of the month? ”
I’ve wondered this too.
Anyone who claimed the mortgage interest deduction on their federal tax return received a gov’t handout. I suppose the government should regulate us further by dictating where we can spend our handouts. Any takers on the charitable tax deduction, tuition, child care, dependents? Handouts to everyone but all of these are ok because we get them. The handouts we don’t get are bad.
WIC allows the purchase of fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, and seafood, and eggs, as well as staples such as rice and dairy products such as cheese and yogurt. All of those are nutritious, and those and other nutritious foods covered by WIC should also be covered by SNAP.
New York City had a great idea to halt SNAP purchases of sodas. The USDA should implement that immediately, along with snack foods.
Dan, my new group, Citizens Rallying Around Poor, Overly Lean Americans, will take care of this. We’re also working on a new scientific study (but not TOO scientific, don’t want to piss off the social conservatives) that will prove that ALL obese people are lazy and worthless and that only really, really skeletal poor people need any sort of assistance.
While my group agrees in general that food stamps at fast food joints is a bad idea, we do hate the thought of government limiting what private enterprises can benefit. One would think that conservatives would be concerned about cutting out these giant corporations.
#11 Sorry, Dan, but we shouldn’t be allowing them to purchase rice, vegetables or fruit. Too exciting.
Why all of the compassion for people on food stamps? The concern for their daily nutrition? Fast food is cheap, maybe that is why they buy happy meals.
As I mentioned over on the RT blog a while back, people need to remember what SNAP stands for: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The key in there is Nutrition. I do not agree with any idea to allow SNAP to be used at fast food or any other restaurants, whatever the case may be. Likewise, I am also for adding restrictions to what SNAP funds can be used for. No sodas, no ice cream, no snack cakes, etc…basically, no junk food that has little to no measurable nutritional benefit. If we’re going to have a program to help people obtain the required nutrition levels when they are having tough times making ends meet, then the assistance programs should be targeted to do just that, and not to allow people to eat a bunch of junk that doesn’t provide anything except empty calories. Especially when considering that many people on SNAP are also on other assistance programs, and eventually their health will be negatively impacted by eating such junk…and if they’re on assistance programs, the taxpayers will foot that bill too. A nice bonus of that would be that if junk food is not permissible, then perhaps some money on SNAP could be saved because then people might not need to have quite as much available, because a person can purchase some very healthy food at a relatively lower cost if they buy the individual ingredients and actually cooks their meals. And with all the many varied methods available for cooking, it’s not hard either. I think I’d also be fine if microwave frozen dinner, like some of those Hungry Man dinners, were also banned. Just for kicks, I looked at one of them a few years ago to see what their nutritional value was: a full day of calories, a day and a half of sodium, and nearly 2 days of fat…in one sitting. That and similar stuff should also be impermissible. It’s obvious that many people aren’t using the programs as they were intended, so it’s time to re-define how those programs can be used. But obviously, the junk food and fast food industries will scream and bitch about it, because it would remove a gravy train of government money that bolsters their bottom line, and consequently, the bottom line of their shareholders and executives.
How does WIC manage to put limits on where their money can be spent, and SNAP completely escapes them? What’s the difference between the two?
10.Anyone who claimed the mortgage interest deduction on their federal tax return received a gov’t handout. I suppose the government should regulate us further by dictating where we can spend our handouts. Any takers on the charitable tax deduction, tuition, child care, dependents? Handouts to everyone but all of these are ok because we get them. The handouts we don’t get are bad.
Comment by Ernie — September 7, 2011 @ 9:28 am
I’m willing to consider eliminating all tax expenditures from the federal budget Ernie. Below is a link that indicates that during the current fiscal year tax expenditures will cost the U.S. Treasury $ 1 Trillion $68 Billion dollars. The project budget deficit is slightly more than $1.4 Trillion. Thus we could eliminate $1 Trillion a year from project deficits into the future by getting rid of all the tax expenditures. In return for that Congress could likely lower individual and corporate tax rates substantially and flatten the individual rates. It’s possible, but not likely.
http://bdrf.org/images/custmer_uploads/Taxes-_Tax_Expendituresv1.pdf
So Ernie,
Do you believe that SNAP accounts shouldn’t be limited to food purchases? Should someone be able to buy a set of tires with them?
@1 Pammala, your use of the nineteenth century African slave dialect is in very bad taste, and it is offensive.
However, I would agree with Dan on this. SNAP benefits should not be used for fast food. On the other hand, I hear so many complaints about the national government infringing on our lives, but you all seem to think that it’s alright if the same government infringes on a SNAP recipient’s rights. Please remember that these people pay taxes too, and contrary to popular belief, most of them would rather not have to depend on SNAP in order to feed their families. Please don’t judge the majority of recipients by the actions of a few.
Ernie, as a bleeding-heart liberal, I have to disagree with you. Allowing the use of food stamps to purchase food with a poor nutrition-per-dollar rating is piss-poor governmental policy, no ifs, ands or buts. If that sounds heartless toward those who are unfortunate enough to be using food stamps, so be it.
Break out the winter coats. Hades is going to freeze over. Dan took a position that I agree with 100%. There is some hope for him after all.
@16 Kristen, WIC uses check vouchers that actually list what food the citizen can buy. For example, it may say 1 gallon milk, 1 jar peanut butter, 2 boxes 12oz cereal. SNAP benefits are money that is put on a prepaid debit card. For example, a person may get a monthly allotment of $300.00 and they go grocery shopping and use the card until all the money is gone. The money gets transferred to the card at midnight on the first day of the month. You see many people run out before the end of the month because groceries are expensive, and the allotment is not all that generous. For example, a single parent with only one child that works and earns minimum wage may only get $100-$200 per month if they are lucky, most people in that situation don’t get any help.
One thing that everyone has ignored: the reason the program exists. The food stamp program was started not for the benefit of the poor, but for the benefit of the American farmer. Hence native ingredients are approved, but not imported ones. Enforcement is provided by the Federal Department of Agriculture.
I would put McGarbage in the same category as liquor and cigarettes. And I’m a pretty bleeding-heart too, but I don’t think sparing anyone from what served at the drive-through is “heartless”.
A decent bottle of wine or a Guinness probably offers more in the way of nutrition than most fast food.
“Pammala, your use of the nineteenth century African slave dialect is in very bad taste, and it is offensive.”
Meh…she’s just not a great speller.
Not everyone that uses SNAP has access to a place to store goods that need to be refrigerated or to an oven with which to cook healthy meals (homeless, lost electricity due to non-payment, can’t afford to replace a broken appliance, etc).
One would think that conservatives would be concerned about cutting out these giant corporations.
See? You kooks can’t be pleased. Sure, elimination of the program is the first choice. I was accepting your premise that we had to have food stamps. But you’re right. Maybe we don’t.
I agree, if the food offers nothing but calories.. like soda, then it shouldn’t be part of government subsidized program. One real irony of the obesity problem is that for all the accumulated mass, these folks often don’t get a proper balance of nutrients. It’s the double metabolic whammy of too much weight and poor nutrition.
It is pretty small minded to worry about whether a person buy s coke or burger with a SNAP card. A Beasley is correct, the allotments are small and the requirements for qualifying are tight. If you don’t have more to worry about than what someone buys on their SNAP Card, then you need to get out and get a life.
Our government provides billions in Corporate welfare, trillions to investment bankers, billions to the energy companies, and billions to other countries and some of you are worried about a person in the US that lives in poverty buying a coke. Shame on you.
Food stamps, frankly is not one of the jobs the government should have, so I agree with Gdad; they should be eiliminated. The achievers will take care of these people; we always have. I understand the biblical writing that say the poor will always be with us and am more than ready to do my part, as I always have.
This is the reason we are going to Zimbabwe. There are TRULY hungry people there.
There are no restrictions on how unemployment, disability and other entitlement programs are spent, so why is everyone so upset about SNAP?
Nutrition/cooking classes should be mandatory for those who receive SNAP benefits. Education is the key. The cards should not be allowed for fast food purchases. The reason so many of the poor are overweight is because they buy junk from convenience stores and buy from the Dollar Meals selection at fast food restaurants now. Those selections are cheap and convenient.
Nutritious food should be made affordable. Perhaps by heavily taxing the purveyors of fast food/junk food. No one needs it, no matter their income level.
Correction to my post at 12:09. The reason most Americans, not just the poor, are obese is because of fast food and junk snacks. It’s cheap and convenient for all and the industries lobby Congress heavily any time they are complained about.
It comes down to personal responsibility. People are paying to slowly kill themselves.
I don’t like the idea of people using dollars specifically ear-marked as “nutrition” aid at a drive-thru dollar menu because I feel strongly that supporting a public program means ensuring it does the best possible good for those who benefit from it. And someone who uses SNAP to buy soda would be better off from a nutrition standpoint using that money for a People magazine.
For a decent period of time, not that long ago, I limited myself to spending $75/week on groceries. That was it (including detergent and TP), and I was feeding 2 teenaged boys. Does putting together a nutritious and tasty week of food with that much to spend require a little forethought and planning, not to mention cooking and effort? Sure, but it can absolutely be done and it’s not rocket science. Someone mentioned a crock pot, which was my saving grace along with Tupperware.
We’re told we have an “epidemic” of obesity and obesity-related issues, and at the same time we have an increasing number of people who rely on SNAP to feed their families. I wonder if the two conditions are related.
So what level of privation is enough for you? Why is it your business how anyone spends their allotted aide? What other tax money expenditure do you get to weigh in on? Bad diets lead to early deaths which helps out the Social Security. Medicare, and Medicaid balance sheet. I know people who have been unemployed for well over a year and one of the things I do to “help” is take them some fast food as a treat when I can. To live a life without an occasional pizza or burger & fries is unconscionable in the land of lard!
I object to how oil companies spend their subsidies, I object to how many bombs we lob, I object to troops all over the globe, I object to payments to despots, I object to fat cat government contracts, I object to a lot of things my tax dollars support, but some poor kid getting a “happy meal” or a pizza will never be one of them.
The level of animosity for those down and out (with no knowledge of their circumstances) is unseemly and unchristian, yet typical IMO. The idea of restricting only one set of people who receive government money even further than we already do seems too Scrooge to me and I will not support it.
Also, why should only grocery stores, produce markets or convenience stores get the income? Fast food is the perfect supply and demand, free market business, why don’t they deserve a piece of the pie? Since more and more people are low income this will be a growing concern and they should be able to compete. I realize you all think people on any kind of aide are just that stupid, lazy and worthless but no one is going to blow their entire allotment on fast food (at least not more than once!)
People need to be encouraged and educated. Instead of the 700 Club or fake news, maybe all offices and places that display television publicly should be tuned to The Cooking Channel. You can learn a lot from Rachel Ray in 30 minutes!
The reason so many of the poor are overweight is because they buy junk from convenience stores and buy from the Dollar Meals selection at fast food restaurants now. Those selections are cheap and convenient.
I can just imagine the poor in other countries reading this. The obese “poor” are getting food at restaurants now and 300-lb welfare mamas are loading their shopping carts with snack cakes on our dime. Makes me sick. Let’s face it. There is no hunger in our country. The bellyaching here is an affront to the truly hungry in the world.
Patricia @4, OJ @ 15 & Mike Scott @ 27: +1
Great posts!
“I don’t like the idea of people using dollars specifically ear-marked as “nutrition” aid at a drive-thru dollar menu because I feel strongly that supporting a public program means ensuring it does the best possible good for those who benefit from it.”
Bingo, Kristen. The same goes for using SNAP money on Mountain Dew not milk.
@18 – No. If SNAP is for food then food purchases only. My point is how can anyone complain when their handouts aren’t being micro-managed.
@ 20 – John, no that doesn’t sound heartless. However are you willing to apply this philosophy to all handouts to all people? No tax break unless you spend the money on some kind of morally, socially, heart healthy, agreed to products or services.
@ 17 Ron – People need to realize that the federal gov’t is handing out 1 trillion dollars a year through the tax code. It is convenient to ignore these handouts that don’t even get reviewed by congress on an annual basis. I suspect everyone on this board receives these handouts. Now apply our thoughts and philosophies in regard to SNAP, etc to the handouts we are all receiving.
Does this mean that when the economy tanks and the socialist take over the country I can still eat at taco bell?
How many Taco Bells are there in the new and improved Egypt?
A Beasley ..I dont give a crap what you think
The whole food stamp program should be eliminated.
So what level of privation is enough for you?
I just like for the “hungry” who get my tax dollars to weigh less than 300 lbs. Is that too much to ask?
Why is it your business how anyone spends their allotted aide? What other tax money expenditure do you get to weigh in on? Bad diets lead to early deaths which helps out the Social Security. Medicare, and Medicaid balance sheet. I know people who have been unemployed for well over a year and one of the things I do to “help” is take them some fast food as a treat I can. To live a life without an occasional pizza or burger & fries is unconscionable in the land of lard!
Fat people use more health care services that I pay for. It’s bad enough I’m forced to pay for their food. It’s outrageous that I’m paying for them to eat junk food, then paying their medical bills. I rarely eat hamburgers or pizza by choice. The people who crave this stuff need a lifestyle change.
Pammala, I appreciate your educated and mature response.
well abeasley thats more than I can say about yours.
besides abeasley, do I really need to post the videoe of the black woman that said all that and meant it?..ok reaLLY…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P36x8rTb3jI
#48 Oh my gosh, pammala, not a, gasp, BLACK woman??? i’m glad you warned us that it was a black woman. reaLLY
Leave it to a simple minded person to believe that Peggy Joseph is saying Obama is going to pay her bills, the editing is pretty obvious and the Pavlovian right wingers have drooled ever since. Sad.
well she voted for it as most blacks did..leave it to a libbie not to keep their word on not responding to my posts…that is what is sad hon
gdad your caps are showing babe
besides abeasley, do I really need to post the videoe of the black woman that said all that and meant it?..ok reaLLY…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P36x8rTb3jI
Pammala, that video really is a classic. It epitomizes what’s wrong with America and why many people voted for this idiot. We have some in here with the same level of intellect as that black woman.
You know what “epitomizes what’s wrong with America”? Suzie, pammala, Al, and the other serially dishonest people who would spin walking on water into not being able to swim if it was done by someone in the opposing political party. THAT is what is wrong with America. The very fact that the video conveniently cuts off the rest of her answer makes for the simple, closed minded conclusions that you all have drawn. Disgusting does not begin to cover the way you people think, talk and interact. If that was one of the TPR’s you all would be screaming, “he meant Mohawk”, “she did not mean to go get violent” and insist that it is unfair to take someone out of context or misinterpret their words, but when you do it, it is “fair game”. Hypocrisy in action.
If it’s okay for Pammala and Suzie to stereotype all African Americans as lazy, fat, welfare recipients does that mean that it’s okay for me to stereotype them as prejudiced, cretinous, crackers?
No, it doesn’t because I am wise enough to know that using sterotypes is a dangerous game that has no place in a modern, civilized society. They are based on preconceptions, distortion, and exaggerated emotions. I just wish that others could see this.
57 states sandi, that all ya got. you dont know me enough sweetie pie to call me dishonest. I have more integrity in my little toe than in your entire soul. you voted for an ass that has quadrupled the debt, has no college grades, has no LOVE for this country, hates what this country stands for and you are proud of that, one of the most ignorant people I have ever read posts on dearie doo.
what is wrong with America is obama. thats it!
and of course everything is edited according to sandi…lol cant take the truth
@#56 No pammala, you do not, and it shows. It shows so boldly it cannot be denied. You are not honest, you do not have any integrity when it comes to politics and your insults, bigoted remarks and ignorance seem to know no bounds. You hate Obama more than you love America and you prove it with virtually every acid filled dishonest post. You are not rational, honest or credible.
#56 pammala, you truly are one pitiful and ignorant individual. Either that or a fifth grader.
gdad,
That’s sorta giving 5th graders bad names isn’t it??
#61 You’re right, Ron, I know 5th graders with more brains and common courtesy.
My apologies 5th graders.
If it’s okay for Pammala and Suzie to stereotype all African Americans as lazy, fat, welfare recipients does that mean that it’s okay for me to stereotype them as prejudiced, cretinous, crackers?
“Crackers”? That is as overtly a racist term for a white person as there is. It’s the equivalent to the N-word.
Dan, are you going to let it stand?
Hypocrisy in action. Comment by Sandi Saunders — September 9, 2011 @ 8:38 am….the battle cry of any good liberal!
Wow. Listen to the hate Pammala has to endure for daring to tell the truth. What I can’t figure out is WHY is it a surprise to you leftwingers when someone tells you 0bama is a moron? Do you not have eyes and ears?
Speaking of black women, did y’all see the photo of the union black woman in Michigan wearing a sign “Good Jobs Now!” As if the tooth fairy or anybody else could come down and create demand. Leftwingers lack even a very basic understanding of economics, and that is why most of them shouldn’t be allowed to vote. Certainly the woman in the photo shouldn’t.
I think this bears repeating –
…. Using sterotypes is a dangerous game that has no place in a modern, civilized society. They are based on preconceptions, distortion, and exaggerated emotions. I just wish that others could see this.
@66 – Was it particularly relevant whether that woman was black or white? If not, why mention it? You are just unbelievable on this particular issue and you don’t even see it.
Suzie, I’m sure there are plenty of photos and videos out there showing white people who shouldn’t be allowed to vote as well (due to their ignorance, not their race). Let’s keep that in mind, shall we?
“prejudiced, cretinous, crackers?”
Why is “cracker” allowed on the blog and not the “n” word? They are both racial epithets. Seems like a one way PC highway to me. Black epithets not allowed, white epithets are allowed.
“you don’t even see it”
Wanna bet? Everything It posts is to elicit a response. Why play along?
So Miriam is now making any reference to blacks a racist event. If you mention someone’s race, you’re a racist. What do you get from doing this, Miriam? Do you think you’re doing a service to black people? Why don’t you actually DO something for the people you blab about, Miriam? Talk is cheap.
sandi is so pathetic, Im glad I didnt vote for it. sandi you cannot keep your word, you have proven it time and time again. i thought you said you would no loger respond, please do what you say sweetie pie..you are already proof of liberal hypocrisy, dont try and make it worse dearie
Why is “cracker” allowed on the blog and not the “n” word? They are both racial epithets. Seems like a one way PC highway to me. Black epithets not allowed, white epithets are allowed.
Good question. I notice hypocrite Miriam apparently has no objection to “cracker”, proving it’s all partisan posturing.
oh and when they cant deny what an awfully stupid president they have, they issue personal insults…lol keep it up, show more ignorance, or is that possible sandi, gboy?
abeasley dont be such a liar like your boy bama…
I said no such thing
Yeah, yeah, we know it is only the two of you that are allowed to call anyone names and throw insults. What childish rubbish! I will not ignore your bile any longer and pretend that ignoring your hate diminishes it. “My word” is not to let you totally ruin this blog and if that means sinking to your level and giving you what you give others, I am all in. Although I appreciate you showing the level of the malevolent run of the mill Conservatives, I am sick of seeing your “contributions”. The two of you, egged on by those with less indecency, ruin thread after thread here. How about YOU go where you can be among like minded shrews? You have proven, time and time again, you have nothing to offer, nothing. You make Obama look good simply by comparison.
…. Using sterotypes is a dangerous game that has no place in a modern, civilized society. They are based on preconceptions, distortion, and exaggerated emotions. I just wish that others could see this.
I know what you mean, Ken. Why would the leftwing media post caricatures of these black women?